Call it a time capsule: If someone were to walk up to you in, say, the year 2050 and ask "What is pro wrestling?," simply hand them Hulk Still Rules and walk away. For all intents and purposes, Hulk Hogan is pro wrestling,... more &raquo and this two-DVD, six-hour set explains why. It follows the hungry young wrestler through his early years, to his breakthrough (defeating the Iron Sheik) to the rampant '80s success of Hulkamania--a bizarre mixture of Reaganomics, Christianity, and testosterone. And, because the WWE now owns the rights to the WCW material, this set covers the whole Hulk story, following his heel turn (as Hollywood Hogan) in the WCW and finally back to his recent success at the Federation. In addition to the documentary, the DVDs contain some 18 classic matches of Hogan's battles with legends like Andre the Giant, Mr. Perfect, Big John Studd, and Rowdy Roddy Pipper. It's not just a must for Hogan fans, it's essential for any wrestling fan. --Dave McCoy&laquo less

Movie Reviews

Best WWE DVD Yet, Brother!!!!!!!

Mr. JKW | Honolulu, Hawai'i | 09/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Hulk Still Rules" is a fairly comprehensive look at the career of wrestling icon Hulk Hogan. The feature proper is an hour rundown of his career. This two disc set also contains almost four hours of bonus material including some of his most significant matches as well as classic promos and skits from WWF programming. In all, it's probably THE BEST video put out by WWE ever and is surely a must-have in any wrestling fan's collection.THE FEATURE:The main feature is a "cliff notes" version of Hogan's wrestling career. Among other things it chronicles how he broke into the business in the Florida independent circuit through the Brisco Brothers and how he initially entered the WWWF as a heel with Freddie Blassie. From there it follows his career through the AWA, his phenomenal and history making second run in the 80's WWF including his feuds with Piper, Bundy, Orndorff, Andre and Savage to his second history making stint in WCW with the N W O to his recent return to the WWE. In all, a lot of ground is covered and a lot of it is incomplete (no mentions of his feud with the Ultimate Warrior, Lex Luger or Sting) but it hits most of the major highlights.THE EXTRAS:If you like extras, this DVD BRINGS the extras like no other. By far, this is THE most loaded wrestling DVD ever put out as it takes two discs to hold all the extras. The extras are a mixed bag of classic (and non-classic matches), miscellaneous skits and some classic Hulk promos. In all, some of it's great, some of it's not great but it's definitely stacked. Here they are:Disc 1:1. Hogan's debut WWWF match against (a non-Million Dollar Man) Ted DiBiase at MSG on 12/17/79. Kinda weird seeing Hogan as a mega-heel and DiBiase as a clean babyface. Decent match.2. "Heel" Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium, 8/9/80: 7 years before their historic showdown.3. Bob Backlund vs. the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika), 12/83: Hogan's WWF return from the AWA as he helps Mr. Backlund. Post-match promo from both afterward.4. Hogan vs. the Iron Sheik, 1/23/84: Witness the birth of Hulkamania as Hogan captures his first WWF title. Post-match promo by Hogan with Mean Gene (and the locker room).5. "Mean Gene" training vignettes from Tuesday Night Titans. Funny and cute stuff.6. Hogan vs. Mr. Wonderful, The Big Event in Toronto, 8/28/86: Awesome, big money match.7. Hogan vs. Andre, Wrestlemania III, 3/29/87. The match itself wasn't much, but this was THE biggest match in the history of the sport.8. Tuesday Night Titans vignette as Hogan teaches McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes about nutrition.9. Hogan and Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake w/Elizabeth vs. Zeus and "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Summer Slam '89. Another classic!!10. Easter Egg: Title 1, Chapter 10. "Real American" music video. Cool and funny at the same time.Disc 21. Hogan vs. 2 jobbers, All-Star Wrestling match, 1/2/80: Token jobber squash match.2. Hogan vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Bash at the Beach '94: The historic first MAJOR big meeting between the two 80's legends. One of the best Hogan matches as Flair carries Hogan to a good match. The one lone WCW match on here.3. Another Tuesday Night Titans skit4. Interview with Mean Gene that leads into...5. Hogan and "Mean Gene" Okerlund vs. George "the Animal" Steele and Mr. Fuji. Fun match6. Hogan vs. Undertaker (champ), This Tuesday in Texas, 12/3/91: Hogan's rematch for the belt.7. Hogan vs. Big John Studd from Puerto Rico in the rain.8. Hogan vs. Nikolai Volkoff from Saturday Night's Main Event, 10/5/85.9. Hogan vs. Mr. Perfect (w/ The Genius) from SNME, 4/28/9010. Hogan and Andre vs. Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy from SNME: Classic WWF style big man collision11. Hogan vs. Piper, WrestleVision, 11/7/85: Another classic feud.12. Royal Rumble '90: Joined in progress as Hogan enters featuring his confrontation against the Warrior.13. Survivor Series '88. Team Mega-Powers (Hogan, Savage, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim and Koko B. Ware) vs. Team Mega-Bucks (DiBiase, Bossman, Akeem, Haku, Red Rooster). Great Survivor Series action!!14. Classic Hogan promos: 1) King Harley Race, 2) The Genius, 3) Big Bossman, 4) The Honky Tonk Man, 5) "Cardboard" Rock15. Easter Egg: Title 1, Chapter19, Mean Gene sings "Tutti Frutti" with Hogan on Bass from TNT.THE VERDICT: Overall, this is by default a thumbs up as this collect some of the best matches, promos and skits and reviews the career of wrestling's biggest star. This collection though is by no means perfect. A lot of ground is missing and a lot of Hogan's biggest matches are not (and in my opinion should have been) included. Some other things they could have put in are:1. Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior from Wrestlemania2. Hogan vs. Savage from Wrestlemania3. Hogan vs. Sting from Starcade4. Hogan vs. Goldberg from Nitro5. Hogan and Rodman vs. DDP and Malone6. Hogan and Bischoff vs. DDP and LenoThere are more but as is the DVD is stacked great as is but they definitely could have done more. Also, the feature itself while well done is just too short at an hour. A lot of ground is left out (like his feud with the Warriors and his WCW activities)..In all though, as is, the DVD is well done and the extras are more than enough to make any wrestling fan (Hulkamaniac or not) happy.You Know You Want This One..."

Awesome Hulk Hogan DVD!

Mr. JKW | 08/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One word: Amazing! This 2 DVD set is incredible! I just got the DVD this morning and it is the best WWE DVD ever. I hope they start putting this kind of effort into all their DVD's!There is a full documentary on Disc 1 and over 4 hours of bonus matches on Disc 1 and Disc 2.Here is a complete list of the bonus matches! All of them are COMPLETE MATCHES!-Hogan's MSG debut in 1979
-v. Andre the Giant in Shea Stadium, 1980
-Hogan returns from the AWA in 1983
-v. The Iron Sheik in 1984 for the World Title
-Hogan trains Mean Gene on TNT (Tuesday Night Titans).
-v. Paul Orndorff from Toronto at the Big Event in 1986.
-v. Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III
-A skit with Vince & Lord Alfred on TNT
-Hogan & Beefcake v. Zeus & Savage from Summerslam 89.
-An appearance on "All Star Wrestling" in 1982.
-v. Ric Flair, Bash at the Beach '94.
-"Classic Hogan" from TNT.
-An interview with Mean Gene, that leads to:
-Hogan & Mean Gene v. George Steele & Mr. Fuji.
-v. Undertaker, from This Tuesday in Texas.
-v. John Studd in Puerto Rico in a rainstorm.
-v. Nikolai Volkoff on SNME (Saturday Nights Main Event) in a flag match.
-v. Mr. Perfect, from SNME in 1990.
-Hogan & Andre v. Bundy & Studd from SNME
-v. Roddy Piper, from the Wrestling Classic.
-The entire Royal Rumble in 1990.
-Hogan/Savage and friends v. Team Heenan at Survivor Series 88
-v. Harley Race on SNME
-v. The Genius on SNME
-v. The Big Bossman on SNME
-v. Honky Tonk Man on SNME
-The Rock cardboard cutout promo from Smackdown earlier this year.No, there is no vs The Rock or vs Ultimate Warrior, like the person above me said. I'm glad they put a bunch of great new stuff on it, instead of the same recylced stuff they keep putting on other DVD's. Get Wrestlemania X8 if you want those 2 matches...then you have the complete Hulk Hogan collection!"

Hulk Still Rules is a must have for wrestling fans!

Mr. JKW | 11/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hulk Still Rules is a Great DVD loaded with extras that you cant find anywhere else!The chapters in the DVD are as follows:
1:Growing up
2:Beginnings
3:Dawn of a superstar
4:The Birth of Hulkamania
5:Hulkamaia runs wild!
6:"Rowdy" Roddy Piper
7:King Kong Bundy
8:Paul Ordorff
9:Andre The Giant
10:Randy Savage
11:Hulkamania winds down?
12:WCW
13:The nWo
14:Back in the WWE
15:Wrestlemania X8
16:Leading to Backlash
17:Backlash 2002
18:Hulkamaniacs!
This DVD also has 27 extras you can find only here!These extras are great!Here they are in no certain order:
exrta 1:All star wrestling
2:Hogan vs Flair from Bash at the Beach 1994(the only WCW match)4 and a half star match
3:Tuesday night Titans
4:Mean Gene Interview
5:Hogan & Okerland vs Mr Fuji and George Steel-rather boring-2*stars
6:vs Undertaker-From Tuesday in Texas-same as their match from Survivoir Series-none the less 4 stars though
7:vs Big John studd in the pouring rain!Bodyslam match-Boring and entertaing at the same time2 and a half stars
8:vs Nikolai Volkoff from SNME-good match for what is was-3 and a half stars
9:vs Mr Perfect from snme-Great Match!4 and a half stars!
10:Hulk and Andre vs Bundy and Big John from snme-Great Big man match-4 stars!
11:vs Roddy Piper from Wrestlevision-good 3 and a half star match
12:Hogan,Savage,Hercules,Hillbily Jim,KoKo B.Ware vs Dibiase,Akeem,Bossman,Haku,Red Rooster from Survivor Series 88-This is the best extra on the DVD-5 stars all arounnd!This Rocks!
13:Royal Rumble 1991-Picks up where Hogan Comes in-good-wish it had had the whole Rumble-4 stars
14:Classick Promo on Harley Race-Classick Hulkamia in his prime here folks!
15:Promo on the Genius-Same as 14
16:Promo on Big Boss Man-Same as 14 and 15
17:Promo on Honky Tonk Man-same as 14,15,16
18:Promo on the Rock-The ONLY boring promo-the other 4 are great except for this one!
19:Hulk as the heel! vs Ted Dibiase as the good guy!Hogan's Debut from MSG in 79-ok match-2 and a half stars
20:vs Andre in Shea Stadium!Not their classick battle from WM 3!but still a good match!3 and a half stars
21:Vignettes from Tuesday Night Titans with Hulk and okerland Training-entertaing
22:vs Iron Sheik-Hogan wins his first WWF World Title short but good match-3 and a half stars
23:Hogan Returns From the AWA to the WWF!1983
24:vs Paul Orndorff from the Big Event in 1986-good match-These 2 work great together-4 star match
25:vs Andre from WM3-The Biggest match of all time-5 stars!you cant miss this one!
26:Hulk Teaches Vince and Lord Alfred Hayes about nutrion-entertaing-From Tuesday Night Titans
27:Hogan and Beefcake vs Savage and Zeus-from Summerslam 89-Good Classick Match-4 and a half stars!
I urge you to bye this from Amazon this minute!If for nothing esle-get it just for all the great extras!"

Hulk Hogan Review

DaveyBoy | 04/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a 2 DVD set which runs for approximately 6 hours. I watched it in 3 separate sessions of approximately 2 hours over the same weekend. Disc-1 has what I refer to as the main section of the DVD, plus some extras. While Disc-2 totally comprises extras. The main section of the DVD runs for approximately 65 minutes, and definitely should have been longer. Ninety minutes would have been more appropriate for a wrestler such as Hogan, who has almost 25 years of experience in the industry.

We kick off the DVD with a decent little introduction of how Hogan got into wrestling. He actually was playing in a rock band in 1978, and his entrance into the WWF was through the legendary Brisco Brothers. Hogan started off as a heel, and had an almost contradictory gimmick, in that he practically played a big strong prettyboy. The major factor he had going for him at the start though, was the managerial services of Classy Freddy Blassie. Hogan seemed to be able to draw heel heat on his own, but Blassie was the icing on the cake.

From there we go to an interesting little discussion concerning Hogan's part in Rocky 3. Vince McMahon Sr basically stated that it was either wrestling or movies. When Hogan chose Rocky 3, he basically walked out the door & surfaced in the Minneapolis based AWA. That wasn't for long though, as he returned to the WWF in 1983 as a face. Within a year, he had defeated The Iron Sheik to become the World HeavyWeight Champion.

This was the time that the WWF was starting to get mainstream audiences tuning in. Pat Patterson is quoted as saying that Hogan was the main ingredient that helped Vince Jr realize his dream of the WWF being more than just wrestling. Arguably the focal point of this was March-31 1985 at WrestleMania. Hogan briefly talks about this & claims that Roddy Piper only "looked after #1 (himself) & never let his guard down", which was a very bad thing. He goes on to comment about King Kong Bundy ("Tough to work with") and Paul Orndorff ("Occasionally took it too far" & genuinely hurt Hogan in the ring).

A little more emphasis is then placed on the legendary WrestleMania 3 match, and Andre The Giant himself. Apparently the 2 gained respect for each other when they were in Japan & Tatsumi Fujinami basically turned a bout against Hogan into a shoot-fight. Andre really wanted to help afterwards, but Hogan fought his own battles. Obviously, parts of the WrestleMania 3 match are shown, including the bodyslam finish. Hogan then moves on and speaks about Randy Savage. He says that they were once best friends, and it was Elizabeth's fault that they no longer see eye to eye. He calls Savage "ignorant" and implies that he was always paranoid about Hogan stealing his girlfriends (even Gorgeous George years later in WCW).

This is the point on the DVD where the major downfall is. It jumps to a quick discussion about Vince thinking that Hulkamania should start coming to a close, because both it & Hogan was getting old. From there, we go straight to Hogan's WCW debut. Hang on a moment!!! What happened to the direction-changing face vs face WrestleMania 6 title match against The Ultimate Warrior??? How did he feel about passing the torch that night? What about the subsequent angles against Yokozuna? Even a brief discussion on Bret Hart wouldn't have looked out of place. But basically, 3 years of his career is just ignored & we jump straight to his WCW debut.

The WCW portion was also a little too brief, as he only really discussed Savage (again), his Bash At The Beach NWO heel turn ("The NWO was successful because I was the leader") & Vince Russo ("A huge mistake in WCW"). Throughout this section, many segments are shown, including parts of Hogan's after-match interview at BATB '96.

Back to the WWE we (too quickly) go, as Hogan discusses his February 2002 debut & the subsequent WrestleMania 18 match against The Rock. Hogan is quoted as saying "I thought I was the best until I got in the ring with The Rock". Rock stuck with him (referring to his own slow pace I presume) throughout the match, and handled the surprising booing of him perfectly. Hogan feels the shaking of hands after the match was the true passing of the torch. Hogan would have liked to remain a heel a little longer, but both he & Vince knew that they had to go with the crowd momentum & not only turn him face, but have him win the Undisputed Championship. This happened at Backlash against Triple H (who he calls "a great ring general"). Hogan also discusses how hard it was to calm down after the 10 minute applause he got from a Montreal crowd. He had obviously been genuinely touched by this moment.

The main section of the DVD ends with a rather nice touch, as some lifelong fans meet & greet the Hulkster at an autograph signing. This was good to end with, as it showed the stature that Hogan was held in by his fans. Overall, this was a very good watch. But it definitely deserved to be more complete with an additional 20-30 minutes. The extra time could have perfectly been split in half by the last years of Hulk's WWF run (including the matches with Warrior, Yokozuna, etc..) and further detail on his WCW run.

MAIN - Extras, Extras & More Extras

I tossed & turned about how I was going to structure this, but at the end I just said "stuff it" & decided to list all the extras & give a brief opinion.

December '79 vs Ted Dibiase: This was Hogan's MSG debut. It was a slow but fascinating match, as watching these 2 at a very young age was interesting. Of all things, Hogan won with a bearhug.

August '80 vs Andre The Giant: This is truly classic footage. Held outdoors at Shea Stadium, this took place almost 7 years before the legendary WrestleMania 3 match. Hogan actually body-slammed Andre during this match as well, showing the potential that he truly had. Hogan was the heel in this match, and it was the only bout on the DVD which Hogan lost. That's right folks, the Ultimate Warrior match is not included.

December '83 Return to the WWF: This was during a match between Bob Backlund & a Wild Samoan. After constant interference, Backlund goes to the back for help, and brings out the returning (face) Hulkster. An after-match interview is shown discussing Hulk's reasons for returning.

January '84 vs The Iron Sheik: Apart from it being a little short (6 minutes), this was actually an excellent match. Hogan goes for the quick win & dominates the first 3 minutes. The Sheik then takes control, only to see the Hulkster come back to drop the Legdrop of Doom to win the HeavyWeight title for the first time. An after-match interview is also shown.

August '84 training Mene Gene: This was a segment on the Tuesday Night Titans show setting up a match which is shown later. Classic footage with a few laughs (including Vince wearing a pink suit). Another segment is shown later where Hogan blends a health drink & preaches about vitamins.

August '86 vs Paul Orndorff: This match also took place outdoors, this time in Toronto. A very good grudge match, with a disappointing DQ finish.

March '87 vs Andre The Giant: I can't really add much more to what you already know about this WrestleMania 3 match, other than that it's worth watching for the legendary commentary of Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura alone.

August '89 teaming with Brutus Beefcake vs Randy Savage & Zeus: This took place at SummerSlam, and includes a pre-match interview, plus commentary by Tony Schiavone. I remember as a kid being scared by the cross-eyed monster known as Zeus. In retrospect, I realize he couldn't actually wrestle. But Savage was at his best here & carried Zeus (and arguably the other 2) to a decent match. It was far from perfect, but was huge at the time.

DISC-2

January '80 vs Ben Ortiz & Angelo Gomez: An All-Star Wrestling handicap match against 2 jobbers. Should have been excluded, and is only worth watching for a very loud guy in the crowd, and the after-match interview, where you can really tell how much Hogan improved in subsequent years.

July '94 vs Ric Flair: Bash At The Beach '94 match which also has Jimmy Hart & Sensational Sherri running around at ringside. This was the much-anticipated, but slightly anti-climactic first match between the two legends. Not that bad, but should have been better due to the occasion.

October '85 Tuesday Night Titans Clip: Includes the usual preaching, a 3 minute match against perennial jobber Tiger Chung Lee, and a poem by Leaping Lanny Poffo. Should have been excluded.

August '84 teaming with Mene Gene vs George 'The Animal' Steele & Mr Fuji: Includes a pre-match interview, and is basically a vehicle for Hogan to be over-shadowed by the sight of Mene Gean in wrestling tights. I'll give you one guess who got the pin. Should have been excluded.

December '91 vs The Undertaker: I absolutely loved this. This was the rematch held a few days after Survivor Series when The Undertaker won his first world title with the help of Ric Flair. It was far from a match-of-the-year contender, but watching The Undertaker playing his original gimmick was so fascinating. This was also one of the few times Hogan was involved in a feud with a newcomer. Hogan won, but the title was once more held up, leading to Ric Flair's classic win at the '92 Royal Rumble.

October '85 vs Big John Studd: This was an outdoor match in Puerto Rico, and was progressing terribly until something interesting happened. It started to pour with rain. I'm not talking a light shower either, it was genuinely bucketing down. The wrestlers couldn't keep their feet, so the referee ad-libbed & called a countout victory to Hogan.

October '85 vs Nikolai Volkoff: Short & decent mid-80's big man match stressing Hogan's patriotism to the USA. Includes interviews both before & after the match.

April '90 vs Mr. Perfect: This match took place less than a month after Hogan's title loss to The Warrior. I was really looking forward to this bout, but it was disappointingly short, and didn't prove anything about how Hogan would handle a wrestler with Hennig's style at the time. The Genius Lanny Poffo was with Hennig at ringside.

November '85 teaming with Andre The Giant vs Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy: Holy cow, there were a lot of pounds in the ring during this match. Hogan was the smallest of the competitors!!! The bout actually moved quite swiftly for it's five minute length, and ended in a DQ when Andre got caught in the ropes & the heels wouldn't stop beating on him.

November '85 vs Roddy Piper: To be honest, this match wasn't all that different to those the two fought 12 years later in (1997) WCW. Hmmm, playing the devils advocate, it just goes to show how far some wrestlers can go without improving their in-ring skills. As previously touched on, Piper wouldn't let Hogan beat him, so this one ended with a DQ when Bob Orton interfered.

January '90 Royal Rumble: The footage starts when Hogan enters at #25. It's always fascinating watching old Rumbles. The highlight of this one was seeing a brief one-on-one contest between Hogan and The Warrior just 2 months before their WrestleMania showdown. The crowd just loved it. Hogan wins the Rumble, last eliminating Mr. Perfect.

November '88 Survivor Series Match: Hogan teamed with Randy Savage, Hercules, Koko B.Ware & Hillbilly Jim vs Ted Dibiase, Haku, Akeem, The Big Bossman & The Red Rooster. Well, I won't say that watching the old 5 on 5 elimination format is as good as watching old Rumbles, but they're still interesting. Hogan & Savage survived, last eliminating Haku. This was the start of the dissension between the two, as Hogan hogged the spotlight & Elizabeth after the match.

Promos on Harley Race, The Genius, The Big Bossman, The HonkyTonk Man & with a cardboard (The) Rock: All are short, and are only used to close the DVD.

All in all, this DVD is a 'must-buy' for any wrestling enthusiast, and is the best WWE DVD I have seen so far. You don't necessarily have to be a fan of Hogan to have this one in your collection, as there is such an array of wrestlers & matches included. You also get classic commentaries from the likes of Monsoon, Heenan, Ventura, Vince, Okerlund & Hayes. The DVD format allows you to be able to pick & choose what you want to watch, and with 6 hours of footage, there is bound to be quite a few things that tickles your fancy. The major drawbacks are not speaking on & including the WrestleMania 6 match against The Ultimate Warrior, having the extra matches out of chronological order, and including 2 or 3 boring matches in favor of larger ppv bouts.

"

Easter Eggs

Peter N. Cappetta | Dudleyville,USA | 08/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are two easter eggs on this dvd:the first is on the first disk,on the third page on the scene selections:it's of the "I'm a Real American" music video.Click the Hulk Still Rules logo.An other reviewer mentioned this one already:The second easter egg is on the second disk,last page of the extras:It's of an old clip from the "Tuesday Night Titan" show with Mean Gene singing "Tutti Fruiti" with Hogan on Guitar.Click the Hulk STill Rules Logo"